At 03:13 PM 07/25/2003 -0600, Chris Taylor-Atchison County Historical
Society wrote:
Please post any suggestions to the list, we are looking at the possibility
of something similar, we have recently purchased an historic site which
will be crossed by a hiking & biking trail.

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I always hate to be the bearer of bad news, but as a general rule--and
there are occasional exceptions, such as the Pan-Massachusetts Challenge,
which raised $15 million--events such as walk-a-thons and bike-a-thons
(collectively called move-a-thons) are not great money raisers unless you
(a) have a major corporate sponsor(s); (b) have limited competition in your
area from other non-profits; (c) have done events before; and (d) can
devote the time to planning and then the FOLLOW-UP.

And there will always be more work than you think.  You will probably need
to increase your staff/volunteer ranks to avoid burn-out.

If you do go ahead with the idea, you might take a look at the following
articles from the Chronicle of Philanthropy for background/pitfalls:

 From the issue dated January 10, 2002
Bikeathon Brouhaha:
Organizers of California AIDS Ride sue two charities to block a competing
fund-raising race
By Debra E. Blum

 From the issue dated September 5, 2002
Company Suspends Operations
By Michael Anft

 From the issue dated September 5, 2002
E-Mail Promotion Powers Bikeathon
By Nicole Wallace

 From the issue dated May 3, 2001
Beyond Pedal Power: Motorcycle Ride Raises Millions for March of Dimes
By Nicole Lewis

Good luck.

Susan Ruderman

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Susan Cronin Ruderman, Ed.M., Vice President
VERITAS INFORMATION SERVICES, 9 Alton St., Arlington, MA  02474
(781) 643-7811; (781) 643-1136 (fax) mailto:[log in to unmask]
Fundraising Research Consulting http://www.veritasinfo.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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